ATNF Pulsar Catalogue v1.53: Documentation

1. Introduction

Background to the original (2005) version of the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue

Since publication of the "Catalog of 558 Pulsars" by J.H. Taylor, R.N.
Manchester & A.G. Lyne in 1993 (ApJ Suppl. Ser., 88, 529-568), the
number of known pulsars has increased considerably. Although various
researchers have maintained updated catalogues since then, in general,
these have neither been complete, nor very accessible. One of the
more complete databases has been maintained principally by ourselves and
colleagues at the University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank Observatory. This
database, based on one originally developed at the University of Massachusetts
(Manchester & Taylor 1972, Astrophys. Lett., 10, 67-70), is a simple
keyword, parameter ascii file containing references to the source of the
data. We have used this as a basis for the present catalogue. With the
invaluable help of NASA's Astrophysics
Data System, we have done an exhaustive search of the pulsar
literature, at least back to 1993 to (hopefully) find all papers announcing
the discovery of pulsars or giving improved parameters for them. Data from
these papers has been entered into the catalogue database.

General description of the Catalogue

The catalogue includes all published rotation-powered pulsars, including
those detected only at high energies. It also includes Anomalous X-ray
Pulsars (AXPs) and Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs) for which coherent pulsations
have been detected. However, it excludes accretion-powered pulsars such
as Her X-1 and the recently discovered X-ray millisecond pulsars, for example,
SAX J1808.4-3658 (Wijnands & van der Klis, Nature, 394, 344, 1998).

The catalogue can be accessed in a number of different ways. The
simplest is from a web interface ( http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/pulsar/psrcat
) allowing listing of the most commonly used pulsar parameters, their uncertainties
and reference information. Several options for tabular output format are
provided. Currently, a total of 68 predefined parameters are available:
see the parameter list in Appendix A of this help
file. A facility is provided for plotting of parameter distributions
as two-dimensional plots. Zoom facilities and interactive
identication of plotted points are provided. Custom parameters can be defined
by combining parameters in expressions using mathematical operators and
functions and these can be either listed or plotted. Finally,
the sample of pulsars listed or plotted can be limited by logical conditions
on parameters, pulsar name (including wild-card names) or distance from
a nominated position. These facilities are described in more detail below
and links are provided within the web interface to relevant documentation.

After creating a table or plot, accessing the help pages or reference
list, use your browser Back funtion to return to the main catalogue page.

For professional astronomers, a more detailed "Expert" web
interface is available allowing access to an additional 98 parameters of specialist
interest. The catalogue can also be accessed using a command-line
interface on unix or linux systems. A tar file containing the database
and source files for the command-line program is available using the
web interface "Download" link.

A table of the basic parameters for known pulsar glitches is also
available from the web interface.

The purpose of this documentation is to provide a description of all
the features available. A more basic tutorial is available to guide
the user through the web interface (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/pulsar/psrcat/Tutorial/intro.html).
We encourage you to send us as much feedback
(both positive and negative) as possible about the catalogue, interfaces
and documentation.

PLEASE NOTE: If you make use of the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue in a
publication, we request that you acknowledge the source of the
information by referencing the paper: Manchester, R. N., Hobbs,
G. B., Teoh, A. & Hobbs, M., Astron. J., 129, 1993-2006 (2005)
(astro-ph/0412641), which gives a full description of the catalogue, and
by quoting the web address
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/pulsar/psrcat.
Where practicable, please list the original references for data
used. Reference lists for data in a given table, both in plain text
and in .bbl format, are available from links at the bottom of the table
page.

2. The WEB interface

2.1 Display Parameters

2.1.1 Predefined Variables

Pulsar parameters are selected by clicking on the box to the left of the
parameter label. In the following example, the user has selected
to display the pulsars' names and proper motions:

Clicking on the pulsar name gives links to other databases which
may contain information about this pulsar. Clicking on a parameter
name brings up the list of parameter descriptions
(Appendix A) in which the selected parameter
is highlighted in red.

2.1.2 Custom Variables

Custom variables are functions of the predefined variables. Up to
four custom variables (C1, C2, C3 and C4) may be defined. The definition
is provided in the text box. Valid expressions for this definition
are given in Section 3 of this documentation.
This custom variable can subsequently be used in sorting,
conditions
or plotted output. If the check-box to the left of the custom variable
label is checked then this variable will be listed in any tabular output
(in exponential form to 6 decimal places). For example, a new variable
(C1) can be defined to equal the square root of the period multiplied by
its derivative -- enter into one of the C1, C2, C3 or C4 text boxes sqrt(p0*p1)
and
click on the check-box to the left of the text:

2.2 Sorting

By default the results will be sorted according to the pulsars' J2000 names
in ascending alphabetical order. However, sorting is possible on
any parameter by typing the parameter label in the 'sort on field' text
box and selecting whether the sort should be in ascending (default) or
descending order. Sorting may be either numerical, e.g. for pulse period,
or alphabetical, e.g. for survey. If the user selects a parameter for sorting
that has not been measured for some pulsars (for example, not all pulsars
have a measured period derivative) then those pulsars with no measurement
will appear at the top (or bottom for descending order) of the sorted table;
the remaining pulsars will be sorted correctly. For example,
the following would be used to produce a table sorted in descending order
on dispersion measure:

2.3 Logical Conditions

Often the user will require results from only a selection of pulsars
in the catalogue. Filtering can be carried out on the pulsars' parameters
(described in this section), by the pulsars' names
(Section 2.4) or by their position (Section
2.5). The conditional expression can be
any valid expression
with the following conditional statements:

==

Equality

!=

Inequality test

<

Less than

!

Logical NOT

<=

Less than or equal to

&&

Logical AND

>

Greater than

||

Logical OR

>=

Greater than or equal to

along with the following functions:

exist(par), which returns whether the pulsar parameter (par) is
recorded in the catalogue. For example to list all binary pulsars
with measured proper motions use:

exist(pmtot) && exist(pb)

error(par) can be used to obtain the uncertainty on a parameter.
For example, in order to obtain all pulsars with proper motion measurements
in right ascension with uncertainties less than 20 mas/yr, use:

exist(pmra) && error(pmra) < 20

type(str)allows the type of pulsar to be selected.
Currently avaiable types are listed in Appendix B.

For example, to select all radio pulsars:

type(radio)

or to select all pulsars which do not emit at radio wavelengths:

!type(radio)

bincomp(str)allows the type of binary companion to be selected.
Currently avaiable types are listed in Appendix C.

assoc(str) is true if 'str' occurs within the value of the parameter
assoc. for example:

assoc(snr) will select all pulsars with SNR associations.

survey(sur) is true if the pulsar was detected in a survey containing
the string 'sur'. If the 'Exact match' button is set, then only the survey 'sur'
is selected.
The current list of surveys is given in Section 4

discovery(sur) is true is the pulsar was discovered in a survey containing the string 'sur'. If the 'Exact match' button is set, then only the survey 'sur'
is selected.

Coordinates can be entered as follows. The parameters, rajd, decjd,
gl, gb, elat and elong are all returned in degrees and can be used in normal
algebraic expressions:gl > 50 && gl < 100 will return
all pulsars with Galactic longitudes between 50 and 100 degrees.
However, it often desirable to obtain all pulsars in a longitude range
which encompasses the origin, for example, Galactic longitudes greater
than 320 degrees and less than 50 degrees (i.e. from 320 to 410 degrees).
This can be obtained using the range() function:

range(gl,320,50)

will return pulsars within the required range. The coordinate
type can be raj, rajd, gl or elong.

It is possible to supply right ascensions in hours, minutes and seconds
and declinations in degrees, minutes and seconds as follows:

raj > h19:33 && decj < d-30:00

(note, the use of an 'h' to indicate hours,minutes and seconds and 'd'
for degrees). This can also be used within the range function:

range(raj,h23:01,h02:05)

This format requires a colon (i.e. hours/degrees and minutes must be
entered; the use of seconds is optional). The functions hms()
and
dms()
may be used to convert to degrees. For example,

raj > hms(19:33) && decj < dms(-30:25)

2.4 Pulsar Names

Prior to 1993,
pulsars were given names according to their position in the B1950
coordinate system. After that date, most pulsars have been given names
based on their position in the J2000 coordinate system. These are
identified by a B or J preceding the hours and minutes of right
ascension; B names have just the sign and degrees of declination, J
names generally have the minutes of declination as well. Ambiguities
are resolved by adding a further digit corresponding to the fractional
minute of declination (rounded toward zero). B names assigned on
discovery have been retained as the pulsar 'name'. Pulsars given a J
name on discovery have no B name.

Pulsars associated with a globular cluster are identified by a
capital letter following the name. Following "Z", "aa", "ab", etc. are
used (as for Terzan 5). By convention, the coordinates in the name of
globular-cluster pulsars are those of the cluster centre and not those
of the pulsar itself. This ensures correct ordering of
globular-cluster pulsars in lists. Other associated pulsars,
e.g., the components of the Double Pulsar, are also identified by
letters.

It is possible to select pulsars that have been individually entered
into the "Pulsar names" box. For example:

would produce a table including only the pulsars B0329+54, B1933+16
and J2346-0609. The pulsar names can be separated by a new line,
comma, tab character or spaces. It is advisable to include the 'B'
or 'J' in front of the pulsar name; if not both the pulsar B1950
and J2000 names will be searched for a match to the entered name.
The name may include the wildcard characters '*' and '?'. For example,
b1933+1? will match PSRs B1933+16, B1933+17 and B1933+15 whereas j004*+*
will match PSRs J0040+5716 and J0048+3412.

2.5 Selecting pulsars within a boundary

It is also possible to select pulsars that lie within a certain region
of the sky. Such a 'search' radius can be defined as a pulsar position
(pulsar name), in equatorial coordinates (hh:mm:ss.ss, deg:mm:ss.ss or
both in degrees) or in Galactic coordinates (degrees). The search
radius around this coordinate is specified is specified in degrees.
The Haversine formula (see R. W. Sinnott, "Virtues of the Haversine", Sky
and Telescope, vol. 68, no. 2, 1984, p159) used in determining the distance
of the pulsar from the specified coordinate is accurate even at high latitudes.
It is, however, limited when the given coordinate and a pulsar position
are close to being antipodal. The following example defines
the region of the sky to be included to be within one degree of right ascension
19:33 and declination 16:00

Equatorial coordinates can be entered using white spaces or colons,
for example "19:33:00" is treated in the same manner as "19 33 00", "19
33" and "19:33". It is sometimes necessary to know the angular distance
between each pulsar and the central coordinate. Selecting 'Show pulsar's
distance from centre of this region' will provide a new column in the tabular
output giving this angular distance in degrees.

2.6 Pulsar Ephemerides

The user may wish to obtain all (or a large amount of) the information
stored for a few pulsars. This is possible, but not practical, using
the standard table forms. It is, therefore, possible to type the
names of the pulsars of interest in the 'Pulsar names' area and then to
select "Get Ephemeris". Three output formats are available. Short
format provides all the pulsar parameters stored in the catalogue that
are understood by the TEMPO
[external link] pulsar timing package (most of the observed astrometric
and rotational parameters, but no derived parameters). Long
format provides all the information obtainable from the data stored in
the catalogue (all observed, survey and derived parameters) and the Selected
format uses the parameter selections made in the 'predefined variables'
section to define which parameters to display. Examples are shown below.

2.7 Output

Two different types of output are available: a tabular form and a graphical
display. These are described in the following two sections.

2.7.1 Tabular Output

The final table can take seven different forms: 'short without errors', 'short csv
without errors', 'short with errors', 'long with last digit errors', 'long with errors',
'long csv with errors' or 'publication quality', with 'long with last digit errors' as
default. The short form is used to provide a condensed summary of the
pulsar parameters; periods are given to six decimal places, dispersion
measures to two decimal places etc. It is expected that this
format will be used for producing tables that can be entered directly
into, for instance, plotting packages where the full measured
precision is not required. The short csv without errors
gives the same data in csv format, with the separation character being a semicolon.
The short format with errors provides uncertainties on the parameters that
have corresponding errors. The actual value of the parameter is
given to the same number of decimal places as the "short"
format. The uncertainty is given in an exponent format to one
decimal place. The long formats provides the parameters to their
measured precision, their uncertainties and references. From the
web interface it is possible to click on a reference label to obtain
the full bibliographic reference (see Section
5). The uncertainty is given as an integer corresponding to the
uncertainty in the last significant figure in the value. For
example, "1.2 2" can be written as "1.2 +/-
0.2". The 'publication quality' format gives the parameters to
full precision with corresponding uncertainties given in
parenthesis. For example, 3.4(5) could also have been written as
3.4 +/- 0.5. The bibliographic references are included as a
separate column on the right hand side of the table. The example
below shows the table produced with the different output formats for
the three pulsars with periods less than two milliseconds:

short:

short with errors:

long with last digit errors:

publication:

Selecting 'No header' will produce a table with no header information
at the top and with no spaces between groups of five pulsars. If
a parameter has been selected, but does not exist in the catalogue (for
example, not all pulsars have had their proper motions measured) then the
table will contain a 'null value'. By default, this null value is
set to a '*'. However, the user may enter any string into the Null
Value text box to modify this output. For example, the user
could enter: "-999.999" or "no value".

Tabular output may be copied to a local disk using the browser 'Save
As' function with Text format. Netscape provides a method of bypassing
the screen display: pressing Shift and the Table button together will copy
the output directly to the local disk. Alternatively, Select, Copy and
Paste functions may be used. Graphical output may be copied to a local
disk using a screen capture program such as xv.

2.7.2 Graphical Output

It is possible to display functions of the pulsar parameters as a
graph. For a normal (x-y) graph, the
values to plot are defined as regular expressions (see examples
in Section 3) and the axes of the graph can
be displayed linearly or logarithmically. The expressions may contain
custom-defined variables. In the following example the user is
plotting rotational periods against period derivatives on a
logarithmic scale,

which gives the following output (after clicking on
at the bottom, right of the main page):

Binary
pulsars are indicated in green, high energy pulsars in red and the
remainder in blue. It is possible to zoom in by left-clicking and
dragging the cursor to select a region. Plots can be downloaded by
clicking on the menu at top right of the plot window.

2.8 A Few Examples

To produce a list of the names and Galactic coordinates of all the known
pulsars with periods greater than two seconds and distances greater than
3 kpc:

Click on the box to the left of 'Name', 'GL' and 'GB' under the 'Predefined
Variables' heading at the top of the web interface

In the 'Condition' box, type: p0 > 2 && dist > 3

Move to the bottom of the page and click on

To plot a period-period derivative diagram for all the known pulsars:

Move to the bottom of the web interface and enter 'p0' in the 'X-Axis'
box underneath the heading 'Plotted Output'. Change 'linear' to 'log'
to plot the graph with logarithmic axes.

Enter 'p1' in the 'Y-Axis' box and change 'linear' to 'log'.

Click on .

To list all known pulsars with declinations greater than -30 degrees and
with measured flux densities at 400 MHz

3. Valid Expressions

The evaluate [external
link] libraries have been implemented and updated to allow the
user to define new variables that are functions of the pulsar parameters
(custom variables), to form logical expressions to define the pulsar sample
and to define parameters for plotting. The expressions can contain
the following operators:

+

Addition

-

Subtraction

*

Multiplication

/

Division

**

Raise to the power

=

assignment

and the following functions:

acos

inverse cosine

sin

sine of angle in radians

asin

inverse sine

sind

sine of angle in degrees

atan

inverse tangent

sinh

hyperbolic sine

atan2

inverse tangent

sqr

square

cos

cosine of angle in radians

sqrt

square root

cosd

cosine of angle in degrees

tan

tan of angle in radians

cosh

hyperbolic cosine

tand

tan of angle in degrees

exp

exponential

tanh

hyperbolic tangent

ln

log (base 2)

fabs

absolute value

log

log (base 10)

fmod

modulus (two arguments)

log10

log(base 10)

Each function (except fmod) takes only one variable or expression which
should be typed immediately after the function name and enclosed in parentheses.

4. The Surveys

The table below lists the major pulsar surveys. The category 'misc'
lists pulsars discovered in other (more limited) searches.

5. References

References are given for all observed parameters in 'long' and 'publication'
output formats , including the pulsar discovery (associated with the pulsar
Name). In tables, a bibliographic key is given with each observed parameter.
Clicking on this key will bring up the full bibliographic details for that
reference.

6. Distances

The pulsar distance (Dist) is a derived parameter as it depends on
other catalogue parameters and is not itself a catalogue entry. The
default value is that derived from the dispersion measure (DM) using
the Taylor & Cordes (1993) model for the Galactic distribution of free
electrons, i.e., Dist = Dist_DM. However, various other estimates can
take precedence. First precedence is given to an independent distance
estimate, Dist_A, based on an association with another object (e.g.,
globular cluster, supernova remnant, Large or Small Magellanic Cloud),
measurements of absorption by neutral hydrogen combined with a model
for differential rotation of the Galaxy or another estimate believed
to be more reliable than the DM-derived distance. Next in priority
order is a measured annual parallax (PX) with a value greater than
three times the quoted uncertainty: Dist = 1/PX. If there are only
distance limits, Dist_AMN and Dist_AMX, then Dist is set equal to the
DM-derived distance if it lies between these limits or to the nearest
limit if it doesn't. Dist_A and the limits Dist_AMN and Dist_AMX are
available in expert mode. Dist_DM1, a distance estimate based on the
NE2001 Galactic electron-density model (Cordes & Lazio 2002) and the
associated Dist1 (taking into account the above precedences) are also
available in expert mode.

The Galactocentric coordinate system (XX, YY, ZZ) is right-handed
with the Sun at (0.0, 8.5 kpc, 0.0) and the ZZ axis directed toward
the north Galactic pole.

7. Feedback

Any comments, suggestions or criticisms can be submitted using a feedback
form on the web interface here.
The 'Name' and 'Email' boxes are not compulsory, but should be included
if you require a reply to your comment.

8. Upgrading the Catalogue

The catalogue database will be upgraded both in response to user
feedback and to include data from recent publications.

9. Downloading the Catalogue

The current catalogue database and the PSRCAT source code may
be downloaded by clicking on the "Download" link at the top of the
Catalogue webpage.

PSRCAT is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
PSRCAT is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

Acknowledgements

Many people have contributed to the maintenance and upgrading of the
database used for the Taylor, Manchester & Lyne (1993) paper. We
particularly thank Andrew Lyne of the University of Manchester,
Jodrell Bank Observatory, David Nice of Princeton University and
Russell Edwards, then at Swinburne University of Technology. We also
acknowledge the efforts of Warwick University students Adam Goode and
Steven Thomas who compiled and checked a recent version of the
database.

The web interface was designed and constructed by Albert
Teoh, during his tenure as a Summer Vacation Scholar at the ATNF,
2002/2003.

The original database was compiled with the invaluable assistance of
Maryam Hobbs during her term as a Research Assistant in the ATNF
Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) group (10/2003 - 4/2005). Since then
this work has been continued by Diana Londish (8/2005 - 10/2006),
Lucyna Kedziora-Chudczer (11/2006 - 6/2009), Ankur Chaudhary (9/2009 -
9/2012) and Lawrence Toomey (12/2012 - present).

We thank W. Becker for a pre-publication copy of "X-ray Emission from
Pulsars and Neutron Stars", in "Neutron Stars and Pulsars",
Astrophys. Space Sci. Library 357 (2008), Thomas Tauris and
Paulo Freire for assistance with compiling the list of binary
companion types and relevant references (see Tauris, Langer and
Kramer, 2012, MNRAS, 425, 1601) and Meng Yu for updates to the glitch
table. We acknowledge the use of Paulo Freire's website
Pulsars in Globular Clusters and the
McGill AXP/SGR Online Catalog
which have provided valuable cross-checks and, in some cases, otherwise
unpublished data. Finally, we thank our colleagues for their many
comments and suggestions which have helped to improve both the
database and the means of accessing it.

Distance parameters:

Dist: Best estimate of the pulsar distance using the tc93 DM-based distance as default (kpc)
Dist_DM: Distance based on the tc93 electron density model.
In 'LONG' or 'PUBLICATION QUALITY' modes, lower limits from the distance model are preceded by a '+' sign.
DMsinb: DM x sin(b) (cm-3 pc)
ZZ: Distance from the Galactic plane, based on Dist
XX: X-Distance in X-Y-Z Galactic coordinate system (kpc)
YY: Y-Distance in X-Y-Z Galactic coordinate system (kpc)

Associations and survey parameters:

Assoc: Names of other objects, e.g., supernova remnant, globular cluster or gamma-ray source
associated with the pulsar
Survey: Surveys that detected the pulsar (discovery survey first). Click here for currently defined surveys.
OSurvey: Surveys that detected the pulsar encoded as bits in integer
Date: Date of discovery publication.
Type: Type codes for the pulsar. Click here for available types.
NGlt: Number of glitches observed for the pulsar